Joan Laporta will this Friday travel to Madrid to meet La Liga president Javier Tebas about Lionel Messi’s future according to Diario AS. Messi is a free agent after his Barcelona contract expired today, and Laporta is working tirelessly to ensure he can re-sign the Argentine and remain within the salary limit set for Barcelona by La Liga, a number €200m lighter than last year.
Laporta admitted on Wednesday night, Messi’s last contracted to Barcelona, that he wants nothing more than for his Argentine captain to stay at the club but was struggling to achieve that goal while retaining fidelity to the salary cap. He admitted he couldn’t guarantee that Messi will stay, but re-iterated that he’d leave no stone unturned in finding a way to pull it off.
Messi is currently in Brazil with Argentina at the Copa America. They opened their campaign with a draw against Chile before recording victories against Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. Next up is a quarter-final date with Ecuador. Unsurprisingly, Messi has been key to their early success, scoring three goals and assisting two.
